Hello music education world!! And happy Friday!
Several fun things to report from the Commonwealth this week:
First off... MENC got a resolution passed! WOOHOO!! (pills CBLW--remember to take your pills).
On Tuesday, the United States Senate passed S. Res. 236, a resolution recently introduced by Senator Evan Bayh (IN), "Supporting the goals and ideals of the National Anthem Project, which has worked to restore America's voice by re-teaching Americans to sing the national anthem."
The resolution does the following:
(1) supports the goals and ideals of the National Anthem Project
(2) commends the American citizens who have participated in this project; and
(3) encourages the people of the United States to learn the national anthem, 'The Star-Spangled Banner', and its proud history.
(3) encourages the people of the United States to learn the national anthem, 'The Star-Spangled Banner', and its proud history.
To view full text of the resolution, click here.
It's just so thrilling to know that Congress is recognizing the commitment and achievements of all of those involved in The National Anthem Project. Way to go elected officials!! Way to "represent!" hahaha (sorry, weak sauce, I know).
BUT SERIOUSLY.
TALK ABOUT THE COOLEST RESOLUTION EVER!!!
Now pass it in the House.
Please?
Secondly, this week marked the official beginning of "Super Fun Obscene Quantities Of Cake Ingested Birthday Month!" here in the Government Relations & Outreach Department! This month, HLS, SKJ and myself ALL have our birthdays (and trust me, having everyone in the department's birthdays fall during the same month is very helpful for me, because i tend to forget birthdays like they're goin' out of style). Oh! And as if that wasn't enough! The nearly and dearly departed ARN also has an August birthday! So prior to her departure, we were four for four as a department on August b-days! UNKNOWABLE UNIVERSE!!
***NOTE TO EEOC COUNSEL POTENTIALLY READING THIS BLOG AND INVESTIGATING MENC HIRING PRACTICES: ALL PROCEDURAL RULES AND GUIDELINES HAVE BEEN STRICTLY FOLLOWED AND ADHERED TO. THIS AUGUST BIRTHDAY NONSENSE IS MERELY A VERY AMUSING COINCIDENCE. VERY AMUSING. COINCIDENCE. THANK YOU.***
Ok, and last but not least... this week I did some running (seriously, it's like an episode of "The West Wing" every day up there) around Capitol Hill speaking with Congressional staffers about the importance of MENC's legislative agenda. As some of you may already know, in a previous life, I was a Congressional staffer myself, and so, from time to time when I head back to the Hill, I'm greeted with an overwhelmingly heavy blast of nostalgia.
Joey: "Wow, it's funny these halls look smaller then they used to."
Terry: "It's a different building."
(Guess the show!!)
Anyways, I thought that it would be fun to just take a moment to share a few of my most vividly weird memories from the Hill (all of which came rushing back to me earlier this week during my brief visit).
1. Everyone looks important. 2% of the people actually are. VERY frustrating.
2. Signs that read: "DO NOT DRINK FROM D.C. WATER FOUNTAINS." In the halls of CONGRESS?? Aren't these buildings intended to house the single most important people in the entire country?!?! (oh wait, those are music educators! ;-)) But Senators and Representatives can't drink water?? Really?? Wow.
3. Metal detectors that go off for crayons. Seriously.
4. REALLY GREAT CAFETERIA FOOD!!!
not.
Thaaaaaaaaaat's all until next week! Thanks for reading!
And now... here are the Friday...
"Government Relations & Outreach Department Album Picks of the Week!!!"
SKJ: Gotan Project - Lunatico
HLS: Amos Lee - Supply And Demand
CBLW: Fionn Regan - The End Of History
